Hello from Niagara Falls: Luxury and Coziness
at the Kilpatrick Manor B&B
Of all the different types of travel that I have done, one type
of experience remains consistently at the top of my list: bed and
breakfasts. I am a real sucker for family-owned businesses and for
unique accommodation environments. And after many dozens of visits
to different bed and breakfasts in different countries, there is
one thing I can say for sure – bed and breakfasts are always
unique. From the personality of the hosts to the décor to
the sometimes unconventional breakfast offerings, every bed and
breakfast is truly one of a kind.
Kilpatrick Manor B&B, with Kevin Kilpatrick in front
So no wonder I was looking forward to getting acquainted with the
people behind the Kilpatrick
Manor B&B, my first bed and breakfast experience in Niagara
Falls, Ontario. When I arrived on Friday afternoon, Nance Kilpatrick,
who owns this property with her husband Kevin, was already waiting
for me and helped me to get to my room with my luggage. After I
settled in Nance gave me a tour of her B&B and then we had a
chance to sit down in the dining room for an interview.
Kilpatrick Manor has been in operation for about two years now
and is a stately Victorian era mansion on Second Street in Niagara
Falls. Nance explained that it was custom-built in 1891 for a former
Niagara Parks Commissioner. Today it features three luxuriously
appointed guest bedrooms, all equipped with upscale features such
as ultra-modern ensuite bathrooms, fireplaces, sitting areas, HD
TV, DVDs and movies, antique furniture and high quality linens.
The owners’ special touch includes bathrobes and slippers,
upscale bath products, fresh flowers, fridges, ironing boards and
wine glasses and corkscrews for that special celebration. I particularly
enjoyed the wireless high-speed Internet access.
Nance Kilpatrick, my gracious hostess
Kilpatrick Manor is a popular getaway for couples, and one of its
special features is a Romantic Massage Package that features two
nights accommodation including two gourmet breakfasts in bed and
two full body massages. Nance and Kevin Kilpatrick work with some
of Niagara Falls’s top massage professionals to pamper their
guests and put them into a state of blissful relaxation.
As I was curious to see the whole property, Nance showed me all
the luxurious bedrooms and bathrooms, whose names were all inspired
by family members. While Kevin is usually in charge of building
maintenance, renovations and cooking, Nance is primarily responsible
for decorating, cleaning and guest services. We sat down in the
spacious Victorian-era dining room so I would be able to find out
more about the entrepreneurial young couple that has created this
special retreat.
The Hunniford Room - my home for two nights
Nance has always had a penchant for hospitality so she went to
college to study travel and tourism in Peterborough, Ontario. Because
she was considered too young to become a tour escort she went into
the hospitality industry. Nance mentioned that her husband Kevin
also has a long standing attachment to the hospitality industry,
having been a chef in different locations around the globe.
Both Nance and Kevin have long had a passion for hospitality and
travel and a few years ago they decided they wanted to explore the
globe while working. So when they answered an ad for a B&B host
in the French Alps they embarked on one of the biggest adventures
in their whole life. They took on the responsibility for running
a local chalet that could host 27 travellers. Most of the clientele
was from Britain and came to this resort area for the fabulous skiing.
Kevin was the chef and handled breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner
while Nance helped with serving, cooking and even did some nanny
work.
Luxurious bedroom at Kilpatrick Manor
Nance is enthusiastic about their experience in France –
the couple worked extremely hard, but they also had time to explore
the local area and do some skiing. This was a very intense learning
experience, getting used to running a large chalet and along the
way handling various interesting intra-European cross-cultural issues
between the local French people and the British travelers.
Their adventure in France lasted from the winter of 2001 to the
spring of 2002. After the couple’s return to Canada and spending
some time renting, the couple bought the impressive Victorian property
that was to become their B&B in November of 2002 and over the
next three years turned it into today’s upscale Kilpatrick
Manor. In order to be able to create a bed and breakfast, the
property had to be rezoned and architectural plans had to be drawn
up. As with many older properties, numerous challenges came up along
the way: interconnected fire alarms, insulation, new drywall, a
new electrical system and three brand-new bathrooms had to be installed.
All the necessary fire safety regulations and building codes had
to be met. Nancy freely admits that they had no idea what they had
gotten themselves into – construction lasted for a full two
years and their first child was only nine months old when Kilpatrick
Manor finally opened its doors for the first time.
Brand-new ensuite bathrooms
Nance’s decorating talent is evident throughout the entire
house. It is her personal touch in the colour schemes, furniture
selection and accessories that has created such a harmonious upscale
environment. When they were ready to open their bed and breakfast,
they had run out of money. So they opened the Chrysler Room first,
and Kevin had to learn all sorts of renovation tasks from scratch.
As a result of all their hard work, their first guests gave them
a glowing review and business was starting to move into the right
direction. Altogether the couple created three upscale guest rooms,
all with their own brand-new luxury bathrooms. Initially they also
wanted to convert the attic into living space, but the stairs would
have had to come through one of the bedrooms, a complication that
forced them to discard this idea. Their goal is to create a fourth
bedroom out of their own personal bedroom which they vacated when
they purchased a property across the street.
The dining room at Kilpatrick Manor B&B
With bed and breakfast owners the demarcation of private living
space and public guest space is always a delicate issue. Particularly
in Canada, the concept of bed and breakfasts usually involves the
property owner living on site. Nance and Kevin have found a creative
solution to this dilemma and now live in another house on the same
street, just steps away. This gives them the necessary privacy for
their own family, which today includes two small children, yet they
are still close enough to the property when a guest needs something.
I can personally attest to that since I had problems with my keys
on Friday night. When I gave Kevin a call he arrived within less
than a minute to help me and show me how to properly lock the door.
High style and coziness
In order to spend quality time with their children, Nance and Kevin
Kilpatrick have also found a creative way to distribute their work
responsibilities. Kevin is usually on site in the morning, handles
breakfast and leaves around noon. Nance then comes in to take care
of the cleaning and look after check-in until about 6:30 pm. Nance
smiles and says that they are a great tag team. Next year they plan
to hire cleaning help which will allow them to spend more time working
together on site again. Nance in particular misses the interaction
with the guests that she would normally be enjoying over breakfast.
Entrepreneurs with a young family often have to find creative solutions
for arranging their working life and their family time.
Many of the couple’s regular guests have actually met the
children and often inquire about them. Nance added that over time
many of their repeat visitors have become friends and Nance is looking
forward to having more of a chance in the future to socialize with
the guests again. Guests at the Kilpatrick Manor B&B are usually
also quite young, between 25 and 45 years of age, slightly different
from the traditionally older bed and breakfast traveling crowd.
Many of the guests arrive for a special weekend escape or to celebrate
a special occasion such as engagements, birthdays or anniversaries.
Most of the clients come from within a three hour radius, which
includes Ohio, New York State, New Jersey and Ontario, and on average
they stay two nights.
Attention to detail
Nance added that the Ontario tourism industry was hit quite hard
by 911 and the after-effects of the SARS epidemic of 2003. Recent
changes to US government regulations require US travelers to hold
passports to cross into Canada, and the higher Canadian dollar has
increased cross-border shopping and wait times at the Canada-US
border. Despite these factors, Kilpatrick Manor has been very successful
in establishing itself as a choice destination for bed and breakfast
travel in Niagara Falls.
One of the main reasons for this is that hospitality is a passion
for both Nance and Kevin Kilpatrick. Guests enjoy the broad selection
of activities on offer in the Niagara Falls area. Travellers can
explore the local history, partake of the many entertainment offerings
in the city or explore the nearby countryside, do some golfing or
visit one of the numerous wineries in the area. Nance added that
many guests also like to go on ghost tours as Niagara Falls is one
of the most haunted areas in Canada. The choice of recreational
activities in this region is virtually endless.
\
Kevin Kilpatrick, a consummate chef
In addition to meeting my hostess Nance I also had a chance to
meet Kevin, the other half of the Kilpatrick
Manor hospitality team. On Saturday morning over breakfast I
snagged Kevin to find out a bit about his personal background, his
experience and his passion for the hospitality business. In his
gregarious and friendly manner, Kevin started to explain that he
has been a professional chef for many years. During his extensive
travels he has gained international hospitality experience and often
told his staff members that “there are not a lot of perks
in cooking. But people need to eat everywhere, so why not take advantage
of that and cook in all sorts of interesting places?”
Kevin’s longest international chef experiences include the
six-month stint he did with Nance in France. He has also worked
as a chef in Venezuela and various places throughout Europe. For
a long time he was the executive chef at a restaurant in Burlington,
Ontario, and currently he still is the executive chef at a popular
resort in Niagara Falls, although he is presently on parental leave.
Scrumptious breakfasts
His adventure in France provided Kevin with a humorous anecdote:
during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the hockey game
was being broadcast, and Kevin, while out at a pub, asked if the
owners could turn the television to the hockey game. The French
pub owners responded “What is hockey?” So Kevin explained
that ice hockey is Canada’s national sport and that the Canadian
team was just about to play the American team for the Olympic gold
medal. Shortly after, the TV station was turned to show the hockey
game and the French audience promptly started to cheer for the Canadian
team. Kevin will forever remember this special hockey game.
A small sampling of the breakfast choices at the Kilpatrick Manor
include a standard “full-on fry” (a typical breakfast
with eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes and toast), breakfast ravioli
(a delicacy I was to sample myself), sautéed-apple-stuffed
French toast with Frangelico syrop and candied cashews with cinnamon
whipped cream. All main breakfast dishes are accompanied by fresh
fruit and freshly baked goods.
Delectable breakfast ravioli
Being a consummate chef, Kevin now also offers catering services
and his kitchen is now fully licensed to handle catering. He also
provides in-home catering, offering the convenience of gourmet-cooked
meals at the client’s site. In addition to catering, more
plans are in store for Kilpatrick Manor: Kevin is planning to redo
the Victorian living room which is big enough to hold 12 to 14 people.
This will allow him to host a variety of special events in his property,
from weddings and engagements to anniversary dinners and other celebrations.
My own first-hand experience at Kilpatrick Manor was characterized
by great hospitality. From Nance’s warm greeting upon my arrival
and a tour of the premises to two scrumptious breakfasts prepared
by chef Kevin himself I felt welcome and pampered all along. I loved
the light yet tasty breakfast ravioli – incidentally the first
time I had pasta for breakfast. The breakfast on my second day was
even more scrumptious: strawberry crepes with a Grand Marnier sauce
– simply to die for.
Sitting area in a guest bedroom
Despite my very hectic schedule in Niagara Falls I had a bit of
a chance to relax in my beautiful room and enjoy the high-definition
television, the fireplace and the full-body Neptune shower, a real
treat on cold winter days. Kilpatrick Manor turned out to be the
perfect place to do a bit of luxurious “nesting” away
from home. I just hope next time I’ll have a bit more time
to relax and maybe even indulge in the in-room spa service.